The kids' book by Adrienne Sylver is a fun mix of real historical moments (i.e., Neil Armstrong ate hot dogs on his trip to the moon) and useless trivia that will make them stars of the board game set in a few years (the most M&Ms eaten in 3 minutes is 170).

As a vegetarian, I was taking a pragmatic approach to the book -- we'll read it because she likes meat (and so does Daddy), but I was digging the veggie dog references enough to become a fan myself.

The section on the Nathan's event on Coney Island makes it July 4-appropriate, but the page devoted to the toppings on this dog from around the country could provide serious inspiration for a summer's worth of family barbecues.

The age recommendation is 4 to 8 for this book, but for reading aloud I'd peg it a little older ... and allow for young tweens to enjoy reading it to themselves.